Ferroglobe, the largest western producer of silicon metal, and its creditors have hired financial advisers to speed up a restructuring of the company’s $451 million of debt, two sources familiar with the situation said, Reuters reported. Ferroglobe, 53% owned by Spanish billionaire and former finance minister Juan Miguel Villar Mir, is under pressure as the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates a slowdown in demand from the automotive industry, the main consumer of silicon metal, in Europe and the United States.

Global demand for marine fuels is expected to fall by up to 17% due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on world trade, setting the stage for more consolidation among bunker suppliers, an industry executive told a conference on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Banks scaled back on their commodities trade finance after the coronavirus crisis led to defaults by some trading houses and exposed a series of frauds, leaving small and medium sized firms most exposed.

Premier Oil has held talks on restructuring its debt with rival Chrysaor in a move that could pave the way for a tie-up between two of the largest UK oil and gas producers, the Financial Times reported. Premier said on Tuesday it had been talking with third parties including private-equity backed Chrysaor to refinance its debt as an alternative to an agreement reached with a group of creditors last month. While the approach by Chrysaor did not “provide better outcomes for either its shareholders or creditors”, Premier said discussions on a potential transaction continued.

Urbaser Balfour Beatty (UBB) Waste Essex went into administrative receivership in July after it lost a case brought by Essex County Council over a malfunctioning mechanical biological treatment in Basildon, Materials Recycling World reported. The court had then to decide on what basis Essex could recover legal costs and damages from UBB. The company also requested permission to appeal certain points of the judgment. A council statement said Mr Justice Pepperall had again found in favour of the authority and had refused UBB’s request for permission to appeal.

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act (CIGA) received royal assent on 25 June, The Law Society Gazette reported. The Insolvency Service described it as ‘the largest change to the UK’s corporate insolvency regime in more than 20 years… [with] new corporate restructuring tools and temporary easements to give distressed businesses the breathing space they need to get advice and seek a rescue’.

Around half a million jobs are likely to be lost in the UK this autumn, far higher than job losses at the peak of the last downturn, a new analysis of recent dismissal notifications shows, the Financial Times reported. Figures obtained from government show that companies notified the Insolvency Service of around 380,000 staff at risk of dismissal between May and July, according to the Institute for Employment Studies, a research group. Most of these came in the latter two months, when dismissal notifications were running at five times the average rate seen between 2008 and 2020.

New Look is set for another clash with its landlords next week as it prepares to ask for further big cuts in rents with a warning that it could go bust without them, the Financial Times reported. The fashion retailer, which has almost 500 stores and employs more than 12,000 people, is proposing its second company voluntary arrangement in as many years as it contends with a hit to sales from coronavirus.

Euromoney Institutional Investor plans to cut up to 240 jobs, as one of Europe’s largest financial publishers becomes the latest media group to suffer as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Financial Times reported. In a note circulated to staff on Thursday morning, chief executive Andrew Rashbass said the FTSE 250 group had to “respond to the world as it now is, particularly in events, but in other areas as well”. It has launched a restructuring process that will put just over 10 per cent of staff roles under review.

Britain’s sparsely populated offices have put the economy in a quandary. The dry cleaners, coffee shops, lunch places and clothing retailers specializing in suits that serve areas packed with offices are starved of their customers, the International New York Times reported. In a country that relies on consumer spending to fuel economic growth, the government and business lobby are urging people to return to their offices, pressuring civil servants to set an example, and in turn spend more money on food and travel and in city center shops.

Lloyds Banking Group has announced its first round of job cuts since putting restructuring plans on hold at the start of the pandemic, the Financial Times reported. The UK’s largest high street lender said it would eliminate 865 roles, starting in November, which would be partially offset by the creation of 226 new positions elsewhere in the business. The reductions will not affect any branches, with the bulk of the losses focused on roles in Lloyds’ insurance and wealth division that were no longer needed after the creation of a new joint venture with Schroders.